In 1898, the company Renault Frères (Renault brothers) was founded by Louis Renault, Fernand Renault and Marcel Renault. Louis Renault led the company from 1898 to 1944. Renault accomplished the break-through from the exempt private company to the large industrial trust in the year 1906. Renault began with the production of commercial motor vehicles quite early. During WW I, production was changed to armaments. After the end of WW I, Renault started with the production of tractors. The passenger cars and lorries production was continued, too. During the 1930s, Renault mainly manufactured representative luxury automobiles. Beyond that, a large pallet of lorries and buses was manufactured. Renault lorries were widely used in the French army. The Wehrmacht took over most of them and arranged to continue production of some types.